Ashland School District shutters Lincoln School; historic structure at risk of ‘catastrophic failure’

Ashland School District officials plan to make arrangements over the weekend to relocate an alternative education program from Lincoln School to Ashland High School following the emergency closure of the nearly 100-year-old building after an annual inspection by the city fire marshal turned up severe structural issues.

Just days before school starts Monday in Ashland, the alternative ed program “Thoreau and Catalyst,” as well as two other specialized programs, Ashland Schools Foundation, the district’s wellness center, and use of the gym for high school club wrestling practices will need to relocate.

District officials reassured families on Thursday and Friday that program participants will be contacted before school begins on Monday with details about where the programs will go.

“I am just grateful, not that this was great timing, but that there were no students in the building,” said Rebecca Dyson, school board chair.

Ashland School Board members convened an emergency school board session in the conference room at the school’s district office on Thursday evening to share information and discuss a path forward after it was found that there is a significant shift in the building’s structure in the northeast wing of the building that a local architect said could cause “catastrophic failure” of the 1926 building.

“The staff that are impacted … it’s really challenging two days from school starting, so I do want to honor their flexibility,” Joseph Hattrick, superintendent of Ashland School District, said at the emergency session.

Hattrick told school board members the district will offer support for teachers and staff needing to relocate by Monday.

“I can assure parents and students there won’t be interruption to their schedule,” he added.

“We will be contacting all students that would have been taught at Lincoln … of where to report on Monday.”

Hattrick said the district is developing a plan to accommodate teachers as some need to remove their materials safely.

He referenced an incident at North Medford High School’s gymnasium, which collapsed in 2024, causing an evacuation of students and staff.

“As superintendent of the school district, as fire marshal, we both agreed that life is far more important than risks,” Hattrick said, “which is why we’re not willing to take a risk. We’re not willing to gamble on this decision. We take this decision incredibly seriously.”

“Nobody likes to hear that one of their schools, one of their properties, is in this condition,” he added. “It’s stressful, it’s emotional, but as stewards of this district, it’s what we’re called to do.”

Hattrick and Steve Mitzel, executive director of operations, on Thursday were both alerted of the building’s issue following a standard fire inspection where Fire Marshal Mark Shay identified issues with the school. Mitzel contacted architect Chris Brown, who brought along a structural engineer colleague to help assess the school’s condition.

“Fortunately, everyone was really quick acting,” Hattrick said. “We had experts on site within 30 minutes of really finding out what was going on.”

Shay reiterated that the fire marshal inspections are standard prior to the start of the academic year.

“These fire inspections are to ensure fire inspections to the Oregon fire code and ensure a safe environment to learn,” Shay said. “As we were near completion of the inspection of Lincoln School, we were going to enter a storage closet to inspect the closet and the contents … and the closet door was almost impossible for school district staff to open. We noticed above that closet on the wall, the drywall was protruding out pretty substantially. School district staff said that was relatively new and so that was concerning to me that the door was difficult to open, the wall was protruding out, and that this was fairly new.”

Shay said he consulted with the Ashland Building Department, which prompted seeking the advice of a structural engineer, who arrived with Arkitek architect Chris Brown.

Brown said he noticed a “significant shift” of about 2 to 3 inches in the building.

He used a 1948 blueprint to study the area affected, which was an addition to the building built in 1926.

“That’s a very significant shift in terms of a 24-hour shift in a building,” Brown told school board members.

“That shift could potentially lead to catastrophic failure of the building in its entirety,” he added. “We are looking to issue a report with our photographs and findings and then proceed with investigative demolition (in affected areas) at the discretion of the district.”

The district’s insurance has been notified with plans to have an individual on site to assess damages and direct next steps.

Custodial staff had been in the building prior to the discovery on Wednesday.

“This protrusion wasn’t even noticed as recently as (Wednesday),” Hattrick said, “so that obviously raised some significant concerns.

Hattrick emphasized the district is not pursuing demolition of the building itself.

“We’re looking at options to fix it,” he said.

Bringing the building into compliance with fire, electrical, ADA, plumbing and electrical codes will be costly, according to Mitzel.

“Just to reach code to compliance … it’s in the millions, easy,” Mitzel said.

And that’s not even talking about potentially asbestos and lead, according to Mitzel.

“There’s a challenge around anything you do to it,” Mitzel said.

“At some point, we’re going to have to make a decision about what we’re going to do with the building – It needs attention.”

Board member Deltra Ferguson asked about the inspection results of other school district buildings.

“Generally speaking, they have proceeded very well,” Shay said.

“There have been some very minor fire code violations, as there normally are in any commercial building. Every school, every school district employee that I interface with is more than happy to resolve those right away.”

Hattrick said he and Shay were in full alignment that safety needed to come first as they decided what to do next.

“Throughout this process, he and I have checked in multiple times,” Hattrick said, “… making some difficult decisions moving forward. I’m really appreciative of Mark’s leadership throughout this process just to have honest, transparent conversations, prioritizing the safety of everybody.”

Mitzel said it didn’t take long to come to a consensus among those who responded to the school.

“We went from closing the wing to closing the school pretty quickly,” Mitzel said. “There’s just so many unknowns to a situation like this,” he added.

Mitzel said as the district moves into a brand new school year on Monday, students and staff will need new spaces, a process that’s in progress.

“It’s obvious that this is a disruption, but this is obviously the right path to take in this situation,” Mitzel said.

The district has been in touch with their insurance company, with plans for assessment in progress.

“Is there any predictable reason this would not be covered by insurance? Is there any concern there?” Dyson asked.

He noted the district has a longstanding, positive relationship with its insurance company, but that he “would never try to predict insurance coverage.”

Dyson also asked whether the historic nature of the building would come into play in the process to assess next steps.

“The reconstruction efforts will need to be coordinated with SHPO (State Historic Preservation Offices),” Brown told Ashland.news in a phone interview on Friday, “ensuring that the historic character of the building is maintained with any of the improvements required.

“We’re just trying to understand what the cause of the event was,” Brown added.

“First steps are going to obviously be clearing out the building and we will be shoring up the building, making sure that it’s safe for evaluation.

“And then we’ll be assessing what kinds of structural requirements there are to ensure that the buildings are safe to occupy again,” he added.

The original Lincoln School building was built in 1926 and the most recent addition was added in 1961, according to school board records. Lincoln School closed in 2005 due to declining enrollment districtwide.

In the 2015-16 school year, the district formed a facilities committee to review and assess all ASD properties. This committee made the unanimous recommendation to the school board that Lincoln School be kept by the district. It was again determined necessary to keep the building during the bond effort, following more inquiries In 2020 into whether the property should be sold or turned over to the city of Ashland, according to school board records.

The school district will continue to own and maintain the school building and property for the foreseeable future in the best interest of Ashland Students and the schools, according to Hattrick.

Reach Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected]. This story first appeared at Ashland.news.

Related story: Fire Marshal shuts down Lincoln School; Ashland School District scrambles to relocate students before first day of classes (Aug. 22)